Most good financial advisers will tell you that referrals are their best source of business. The same is true for fraudsters. Affinity fraud is just using a network to funnel new “investors” into a fraud. The Boston office of the Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against an alleged fraudster using an unusual network.
The SEC alleges that Thomas J. Connerton told investors that his company, Safety Technologies LLC, was developing a material to make surgical gloves better resistant to cuts or punctures. He claimed that several major glove manufacturers wanted the technology and Safety Technologies was on the brink of imminent deals that would result in large payouts for investors in his company. But no deals have ever been anywhere close to materializing.
Instead, the SEC alleges that Connerton has been emptied the company’s bank accounts for his own expenses. Those expenses include a $20,000 for an engagement ring for his latest online date.
She is also an investor.
Of the 50+ investors in the company, six are women Connerton met through online dating. There are 14 others who are family or friends of those women. A third of his “investors” and half of the money are tied to Connerton’s online dating activities.
And you thought your ex had problems.
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